Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Stake Lessened by Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,366 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Paychex were worth $7,931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $34,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $34,000. Tsfg LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 122.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Paychex from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $153.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $141.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $127.42 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.02 and a twelve month high of $161.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $45.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.63, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $133.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.46.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 97.08%.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.